Research has shown that writing about private traumatic experiences leads to improvements in immunological functioning and to reductions in physiological and psychological symptoms. It is believed that the reason writing offers these health benefits is that the writer experiences catharsis (i.e., a release of pent-up emotions), gains new insights into the trauma (i.e., makes meaning out of it), and no longer has to expend cognitive and emotional resources actively hiding the trauma. However, it is not clear that catharsis actually does benefit people. Some research has demonstrated that asking people anger-eliciting questions when they are angry can actually increase their feelings of anger. Moreover, there is conflicting research on the value of reflecting on the meaning of one's private negative experiences. Nolen-Hoeksema has discovered that people who think through the meaning of their negative experiences (i.e., ruminate over them) tend to become more depressed than those who do not. The purpose of the proposed research is to ascertain experimentally what it is about revealing one's secrets or private negative experiences that leads to health benefits. In one experiment, participants will be randomly assigned to write about a personal secret while trying to gain either catharsis or new insights into the secret. A control group will simply write about their previous day. Before and after the writing periods on consecutive weeks, the PI will assess participants' affect surrounding their secrets, skin conductance levels (SCLs; indicators of physiological arousal), and general symptomatology to test the prediction that the new- insights group will reap more health benefits than will the catharsis or control groups. A second experiment will compare non-productive, passive rumination with active meaning-making. One group of participants will be instructed to reflect on their feelings and the meanings of their secrets for several writing periods, whereas another group will be asked to develop a new perspective on their secrets. If the latter group experiences more positive change in affect surrounding the secrets, these findings could clarify the previous counter-intuitive results that rumination led to depression. The PI contends that rumination may not be counterproductive if it is a first step toward creating a new perspective on a secret. A new perspectIve allows one to find closure on a private, negative experience and avoid the Zeigarnik effect, wherein one continues to seek to fulfill a goal until it is attained. Analysis of variance will be used to test the cause-and-effect relationships between (a) the instructions to gain new insights, ruminate, or gain catharsis and (b) changes in affect, general symptomatology, and SCLs. Follow-up multiple regression analyses will be used to assess the relationships among self-reported meaning making, catharsis, and changes in affect and physiological arousal. ""his research is needed to clarify the mechanisms that underlie the health benefits from revealing: It has implications for helping people get the most out of revealing their troubling secrets.